Pro Bowl 2014 Roster: Unconferenced Teams, Captains and Expectations

Deion Sanders and Jerry Rice played the role of fantasy football general manager as they completed their rosters for the 2014 Pro Bowl.

For the first time ever, the Pro Bowl teams aren't broken down by conference, but rather the result of a draft between Sanders and Rice.

The idea wasn't for everybody, and the draft itself certainly seemed to drag on, especially in the later rounds, when all of the skill-position players were gone.

But this was an experiment by the league to try and reinvigorate what had been a dying All-Star Game in the Pro Bowl. Fans got tired of seeing the same guys facing off against each other and almost no defense being played. The draft was a way to add a different element.

Looking at the rosters and some of the banter going on Wednesday in Hawaii, it's hard to see how the draft itself was a failure.

The captains were determined by taking the leading vote-getters on offense and defense from each conference. If a player was injured or taking part in the Super Bowl, he was excluded.

Rice won the coin toss and selected Drew Brees and Robert Quinn, leaving Sanders with Jamaal Charles and J.J. Watt.

From there, it was a straight draft, with the two alternating picks. The draft was stretched across Wednesday and Thursday.

Here are the results.

Team	Player	NFL Team
Defensive Tackle
Team Sanders	Ndamukong Suh	Detroit Lions
Team Sanders	Gerald McCoy	Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Team Sanders	Dontari Poe	Kansas City Chiefs
Team Rice	Kyle Williams (assigned)	Buffalo Bills
Team Rice	Jason Hatcher	Dallas Cowboys
Team Rice	Marcell Dareus	Buffalo Bills
Guard
Team Rice	Jahri Evans	New Orleans Saints
Team Rice	Ben Grubbs	New Orleans Saints
Team Rice	Evan Mathis	Philadelphia Eagles
Team Sanders	Marshal Yanda	Baltimore Ravens
Team Sanders	Logan Mankins	New England Patriots
Team Sanders	Kyle Long (assigned)	Chicago Bears
Center
Team Sanders	Mike Pouncey	Miami Dolphins
Team Sanders	Alex Mack	Cleveland Browns
Team Rice	Ryan Kalil	Carolina Panthers
Team Rice	Nick Mangold (assigned)	New York Jets
Fullback
Team Rice	Mike Tolbert	Carolina Panthers
Team Sanders	Marcel Reece (assigned)	Oakland Raiders
Special Teamer
Team Sanders	Matthew Slater	New England Patriots
Team Rice	Justin Bethel (assigned)	Arizona Cardinals
Punter
Team Rice	Johnny Hekker	St. Louis Rams
Team Sanders	Brandon Fields (assigned)	Miami Dolphins
Long Snapper
Team Sanders	J.J. Jansen	Carolina Panthers
Team Rice	Matt Overton	Indianapolis Colts

Team	Player	NFL Team
Quarterback
Team Sanders	Andrew Luck	Indianapolis Colts
Team Sanders	Cam Newton	Carolina Panthers
Team Sanders	Nick Foles	Philadelphia Eagles
Team Rice	Drew Brees (Captain)	New Orleans Saints
Team Rice	Philip Rivers	San Diego Chargers
Team Rice	Alex Smith (assigned)	Kansas City Chiefs
Running Back
Team Rice	LeSean McCoy	Philadelphia Eagles
Team Rice	Matt Forte	Chicago Bears
Team Rice	DeMarco Murray	Dallas Cowboys
Team Sanders	Jamaal Charles (Captain)	Kansas City Chiefs
Team Sanders	Eddie Lacy	Green Bay Packers
Team Sanders	Alfred Morris (assigned)	Washington Redskins
Wide Receiver
Team Sanders	A.J. Green	Cincinnati Bengals
Team Sanders	Dez Bryant	Dallas Cowboys
Team Sanders	Antonio Brown	Pittsburgh Steelers
Team Sanders	DeSean Jackson	Philadelphia Eagles
Team Rice	Brandon Marshall	Denver Broncos
Team Rice	Josh Gordon	Cleveland Browns
Team Rice	Alshon Jeffery	Chicago Bears
Team Rice	Larry Fitzgerald (assigned)	Arizona Cardinals
Tight End
Team Rice	Jimmy Graham	New Orleans Saints
Team Rice	Tony Gonazlez	Atlanta Falcons
Team Sanders	Jordan Cameron (assigned)	Cleveland Browns
Team Sanders	Jason Witten (assigned)	Dallas Cowboys
Offensive Tackle
Team Sanders	Branden Albert	Kansas City Chiefs
Team Sanders	Trent Williams	Washington Redskins
Team Sanders	Duane Brown	Houston Texans
Team Rice	Joe Thomas	Cleveland Browns
Team Rice	Tyron Smith	Dallas Cowboys
Team Rice	Duane Brown (assigned)	Houston Texans
Defensive End
Team Rice	Robert Quinn (captain)	St. Louis Rams
Team Rice	Cameron Jordan	New Orleans Saints
Team Rice	Cameron Wake	Miami Dolphins
Team Sanders	J.J. Watt (captain)	Houston Texans
Team Sanders	Greg Hardy	Carolina Panthers
Team Sanders	Mario Williams (assigned)	Buffalo Bills
Outside Linebacker
Team Sanders	Tamba Hali	Kansas City Chiefs
Team Sanders	Terrell Suggs	Baltimore Ravens
Team Sanders	Brian Orakpo (traded)	Washington Redskins
Team Rice	Justin Houston	Kansas City Chiefs
Team Rice	Robert Mathis (traded)	Indianapolis Colts
Team Rice	John Abraham (assigned)	Arizona Cardinals
Inside Linebacker
Team Rice	Vontaze Burfict	Cincinnati Bengals
Team Rice	Derrick Johnson	Kansas City Chiefs
Team Sanders	Luke Kuechly	Carolina Panthers
Team Sanders	Paul Posluszny (assigned)	Jacksonville Jaguars
Cornerback
Team Sanders	Patrick Peterson	Arizona Cardinals
Team Sanders	Darrelle Revis	Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Team Sanders	Brent Grimes	Miami Dolphins
Team Sanders	Tim Jennings (assigned)	Chicago Bears
Team Rice	Alterraun Verner	Tennessee Titans
Team Rice	Joe Haden	Cleveland Browns
Team Rice	Brandon Flowers	Kansas City Chiefs
Team Rice	Antonio Cromartie	New York Jets
Safety
Team Rice	Jairus Byrd	Buffalo Bills
Team Rice	Antrel Rolle (assigned)	New York Giants
Team Rice	Eric Reid	San Francisco 49ers
Team Sanders	Eric Berry	Kansas City Chiefs
Team Sanders	Eric Weddle	San Diego Chargers
Team Sanders	T.J. Ward	Cleveland Browns
Kicker
Team Sanders	Justin Tucker	Baltimore Ravens
Team Rice	Stephen Gostkowski	New England Patriots
Punt Returner
Team Rice	Dexter McCluster	Kansas City Chiefs
Team Sanders	Cordarrelle Patterson	Minnesota Vikings

Andrew Luck was the first overall pick on Thursday, going to Team Sanders. It wasn't much of a surprise, as it seemed "Prime Time" would go with a QB to counter Brees, so the only question was whether or not it would be Luck or Cam Newton. Plus, Luck gets reunited with head coach Chuck Pagano, who's coaching Team Sanders.

Sanders then went ahead and took Newton with his second pick, giving himself a phenomenal combination at quarterback.

With his first pick, Rice took Jimmy Graham, making sure to keep he and Drew Brees together.

Although this draft made things interesting during the buildup, it's hard to see how it will radically affect the game itself. There will still be a ton of points scored and little defense. Guys like Luck, Newton, A.J. Green, Josh Gordon and Dez Bryant will thrive, while it will be a day to forget for those stuck in the secondary.

It's not hard to see how the players will be unwilling to go full force in what is nothing more than a glorified exhibition game. Let's not forget Brees' injury during the 2007 Pro Bowl.

Andrew Brandt of The MMQB noted the financial incentives on the line for the players:

Taking a look at the rosters, Team Deion would have to get the slight edge. He did a great job loading up at QB and provided Luck, Cam Newton and Nick Foles with Green, Bryant, Antonio Brown and DeSean Jackson at wideout.

On the other side, Sanders has two of the best cornerbacks in the game, with Patrick Peterson and Darrelle Revis. Eric Berry and Eric Weddle will also help to provide what little defense Team Sanders will play.

It should be a fun game as long as you don't take it too seriously, and the draft has helped to craft matchups that otherwise wouldn't have happened.